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Mass-Energy Equivalence Discoverey
Einstein publishes his paper on the fact that mass equals energy where energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. This prompts study into how to go about doing this. -
Nuclear Fission
Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in Berlin demonstrate nuclear fission. Energy release was calculated to 200 Mev. Since fission produced large quantities of energy and was possibly self-sustaining, more researchers tried to figure out how to use it. -
Nuclear Enrichment
Neils Bohr assumes that a lighter isotope of Uranium, U235 would be more fissile. He proposes that a sample of uranium would have to be gradually seperated to increase the concentration of U235. -
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Nuclear Bombs
The U.S. bombs Hiroshima on 8/6/1945 and Nagasaki on 8/10/1945. The severity of damage from such weapons raises concerns of nuclear energy research as a precursor to nuke proliferation. -
The First Commercial Nuclear Power Plant Opens In the U.S.
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station opens in Shippingport,Pennsylvania. The general structure of a Nuclear Power plant is as follows. Pellets that contain 3% U235 are placed in fuel rods which are placed in the reactor vessel. This reactor vessel is interspersed with control rods which slow down neutrons during the nuclear reactions. When the reactions occur, heat from the reactions turns water into steam, which drives a turbine. This is how a nuclear power plant produces electricity. -
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Nuclear Energy Lessens
Many reactor orders were not made and canceled. Nuclear energy as a percentage of world electricity production stagnated at 16%. This was due in part to the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island incidents which made the public afraid of nuclear accidents and irradiation. -
The Three Mile Island Incident
A nuclear meltdown occurs in reactor 2 in the three mile island facility. -
Chernobyl Disaster
A steam explosion and graphite fire produced updrafts that carried large amounts of radioactive products throughout the atmosphere, endangering many. -
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The Fukishima Plant incurred three nuclear metldowns because a tsunami knocked out the cooling system, which lead to explosion and dispersal of radioactive material in the air. This event displaced over 50,000 households and there will likely be lingering health effects to come in Japan. This was so serious that it convinced Germany to decommission all nuclear power plants by 2022. This event raised concerns on plant integrity and whether plants could be targeted by terrorists. -
The Watts Bar 2 Plant opens
The Watts Bar 2 Plant Opens in Spring City, Tennessee. This is the first new reactor to open in 20 years in the U.S. There has been a resurgence in nuclear energy due to rising oil prices and demand. -
ITER
The ITER Fusion Tokamak will begin nuclear fusion experiments on this year. Fusion power is seen as a cleaner alternative to nuclear fission. However, there are some problems. Currently, fusion experiments produce no net energy gain. Also, there are not large quantities of readily accessible hydrogen and deuterium. Lastly, fusion can only occur on earth at high temperatures, which no material can withstand. -
The Future
Everyone should care about nuclear energy. Although some see renewable sources as the way past fossil fuels, they are not accessible and dense in energy. Nuclear energy is the way past fossil fuels due to high energy density, availability of fuel,and lack of pollution. Since this is a realistic solution to energy demand. Everyone needs to consider how to solve the remaining problems iike nuclear waster storage and nuclear disasters.
